Homicide victim's best friend: Suspect sold cocaine to victim five hours before homicide during Saginaw Township poker game

View full sizeJon Garcia | MLive.comQuintel A. West, 23, waits for his preliminary hearing to begin July 24 in Saginaw County District Judge Christopher S. Boyd's courtroom. West is charged with felony murder and 22 other felonies in the May 30 homicide of Michael Kuhlman in Saginaw Township.

EDITOR'S NOTE: An error led to this article being posted Tuesday morning. An updated version is below.

SAGINAW, MI — Quintel A. West sold cocaine to Michael Kuhlman about five hours before Kuhlman was fatally shot as he and other poker players were robbed and he was killed at his home, a witness testified Tuesday.

West, 23, is charged with felony murder and 22 other felonies in the May 30 homicide of Kuhlman, 36, at Kuhlman's home at 2555 Luella off Weiss near Hemmeter.

Kuhlman's best friend, Brian Call, testified during the second part of West's preliminary hearing before Saginaw County District Judge Christopher S. Boyd that Kuhlman purchased powder cocaine from West, an acquaintance of Call's, about an hour prior to a weekly poker game began at Kuhlman's home.

Boyd heard testimony from Call and three other men who were at the poker game during West's hearing, intended for the judge to determine whether probable cause exists for trial. The hearing began last week but ended abruptly when county Assistant Prosecutor Jon Sahli experienced sudden medical trouble.

County Assistant Prosecutor Patrick Duggan took over the reigns for Sahli, who Duggan said is recovering at home. Testimony lasted throughout the afternoon, and Boyd postponed the remainder of the hearing until Aug. 16.

None of the testimony thus far has shown how police and prosecutors have linked West, who last lived at 1602 Division in Saginaw, to the homicide. If convicted of the felony murder charge, West would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. The charge means somebody was killed during the commission of a specified felony.

Call testified that he briefly spoke with West as West was parked in a red sports utility vehicle in Kuhlman's driveway. He spoke with West about joining the poker game, which had a minimum buy-in of $100 and featured payouts that reached $5,000 or more, but West said he wanted to “sharpen up on his skills” first before joining the game, Call said.

More than five hours later, before 1 a.m., the poker players heard loud banging on the front door, the witnesses testified. Kuhlman went to the door, and quickly realized he and the others were being robbed and said as much, the witnesses testified.

The exact details of the incident varied some between the witnesses, but they all testified that they heard at least one gunshot fired through the door. The poker players scurried — some, like Robert W. “Bob” Johnson Jr. and John Allen, running to the home's backyard, and others, like Call, jumping behind a couch and hiding.

Another witness, whom The Saginaw News is not naming at police request due to his fears for his safety, testified that he heard Kuhlman tell the robber that the money — collected from the players in exchange for poker chips — was in his pocket.

The unnamed witness testified that he believed there was at least two and possibly three, based on the time that elapsed between Kuhlman being shot and asked about the money, somebody ransacking the poker table, and shots being fired in the backyard.

Call testified that after the intruders left, he attended to Kuhlman.

“He said, 'I'm dying Brian, I'm dying,' ” Call said.

A barely conscious Kuhlman told Call to tell his fiancee and child that he loved them, Call testified.

There have not been any witnesses who have testified as to when Kuhlman died.

Allen, who ran away through the backyard, testified that he was shot in the lower right back as he ran.

West also is charged with assault with intent to murder Allen, first-degree home invasion, nine counts of armed robbery, single counts of conspiring to commit first-degree home invasion and armed robbery, six counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony, and single counts of carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent, carrying a concealed weapon, and receiving and concealing a stolen firearm.